North Island Takapuna
Then,came January and my highly anticipated trip to Golden Bay,Takaka and specifically,Anahata Yoga Retreat. I was nervous but very very hopeful that this experience could restore the me in me.
It delivered on all fronts; outrageously beautiful,as I ascended in a hitch hiked car I was awash with awe. The dirt road zigzagged up to the top where the retreat in little buildings lay nestled. Many sheep cows and lots if wild horses scattered on the green grass with big parrot like birds called Kakariki cruising high.
On either side of Anahata was the Golden Bay,on one side was the Abel Tasman National Park . It was striking and as I could breathe deep into the beauty,it felt like a ten course meal. " Anahata "is the name for heart Chakra and my heart began to feel like it was home again. It is really an ashram..yoga as a science,as a way to live. Originally ashrams were religious,today,many are a spiritual hermitage. Anahata,run by Swami Muktidharma and his wife,Swami Karma Karuna is not a religious ashram. I did three retreats,The Celebration of Sound,The Science of Life Yoga and Ayurveda and ,Explore Yourself Yogic Lifestyle Retreat.
I loved all the Karma Yogies and my fellow explorers...We ate heaps( Kiwi word) of delectable veggie food,chanted,did yoga,meditation and Karma Yoga.
Karma Yoga was fascinating to me:Karma is action,Karma Yoga is action with a meditative awareness.The aim,just to remind myself,is to combine the qualities of efficiency,renunciation,equanimity,egolessness and duty,into one action,one thought.
It's incredible to recall how we as a family do our chores together. It's always about doing the job FAST,with the least effort and if anything goes wrong it's who to blame? How sad when I experienced working with others,often taking orders that I would normally argue about,having to on a number of occasions,do the job over again and to realize,how much simple joy can be found when we lt go of the competition and the outcome.
I met some fabulous people,some I hope to continue to connect with.
A sailing friend,Pete Hall had just completed his circumnavigation and I knew he lived in Golden Bay. Just before I left I Takaka,13 km down the mountain from Anahata.I met up with him at his sisters gallery. I got another overwhelming showing of NewZealand beauty and tenacity. Petes property,with thousand year old trees is so enchanting and beautiful,a house he built himself with dead trees from the land...soooo cool,and apparently with a Canadian portable sawmill!!! He had a generator that created so much power he didn't know what to do with it all...I noticed the large ol gal porcelain bath tub outside,which got me counting .It's been since Nov.2010 since Ive been in a hot tub! No breaking records,but I did gorge on ruby plump plums in a healthy orchard of fruit trees....
David,is on his way down as I write. It is March9 and Ive still got some other stories to tell,briefly.....
I stayed a month and I hope to remember and live what I learned there;the practices,the capacity for an open heart however vulnerable,the ability to cultivate compassion and the trust in life .How I can love love so many people...
Back home,to Rhythm,on the North Shore and
Olivia attending Takapuna Grammar.....
Bayswater Marina and amongst our neighbors we love,Don Quixote(Americans,now citizens of NZ,Gromit( Canadian),Casulu(Brazilians,now citizens of NZ)
Sent from my iPad
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